The firm has grown its turnover from £33k in 2014 to over £1m last year, with forecasts pointing to turnover growth of more than 60% this year.

Alderley Analytical is a bioanalytical contract research business, supporting the development of new drugs by measuring their levels in biological fluid samples.

It was among the first companies to move into Alderley Park at the former AstraZeneca R&D campus in Cheshire. The company was founded in 2014 by Elizabeth Thomas, Paul Holme, Sally Hannam and Claire Wildgoose.

Chief exec Elizabeth Thomas said: “The funding has been used to recruit new staff and buy a new Mass Spectrometer, a high-tech piece of equipment which is used to measure drug levels in biological fluids.

“The data we generate leads to the right dose getting to the right patient and ultimately helps to get new medicines to market.”

She continued: “The team at FW Capital were superb to deal with. We had a tight deadline in which to secure the funding which required expert advice, support and a lot of hard work on their part.

“They provide funding of up to £750k in any one company so we see them as long term investment partners for the future.”

Gavin Cowling, senior investment executive at FW Capital, commented: “The North West is a real hotbed for the life sciences sector with Liverpool and Manchester Science Parks, Alderley Park and Sci-Tech Daresbury all in the region.

“Alderley Analytical is an exciting business with plenty of growth prospects and a solid pipeline of work. The company is run by a strong management team which includes scientific and commercial expertise.”

He added: “We are delighted to be supporting Alderley Analytical and would encourage other life science businesses to come and speak to us if they need finance for growth.”

The NPIF is run by British Business Bank.

Sue Barnard, senior relationship manager at British Business Bank, said: “It is great to see NPIF funding going towards biomedical companies like Alderley Analytical, which are enabling the rapid development of new drugs around the world.”